Column

  1. Math

    Möbius at Fermilab

    Fermilab’s Wilson Hall. Courtesy of Fermilab. Soaring into the sky like a medieval cathedral, the twin towers of the structure known as Wilson Hall dominate the flat countryside surrounding the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (Fermilab) in Batavia, Ill. Named for physicist and accelerator builder Robert Rathbun Wilson (1914-2000), the building celebrates Wilson’s vision and skill, […]

    By Ivars Peterson
  2. Math

    Solving Yahtzee

    Sometimes described as poker with dice, Yahtzee is an immensely popular game. Its manufacturer, Hasbro, claims that as many as 100 million people worldwide play the game regularly. Yahtzee involves rolling five dice with the aim of obtaining favorable scoring combinations. For example, rolling five of a kind scores 50 points, whereas rolling three of […]

    By Ivars Peterson
  3. Math

    Scrambled Grids

    Amazingly simple mathematical operations can lead to intriguingly complex results.